Biology subjects

Boyce, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Boyce, G..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2019

Diversity and function of fungi associated with the fungivorous millipede, Brachycybe lecontii

Fungivorous millipedes (subterclass Colobognatha) likely represent some of the earliest known mycophagous terrestrial arthropods, yet their fungal partners remain elusive. Here we describe relationships between fungi and the fungivorous millipede, Brachycybe lecontii. Their fungal community is surprisingly diverse with 176 genera, 39 orders, and four phyla and includes several undescribed species. Of particular interest are twelve genera conserved across wood substrates and millipede clades that comprise the core fungal community of B. lecontii. Wood decay fungi, long speculated to serve as the primary food source for Brachycybe species, were absent from this core assemblage and proved lethal to millipedes in pathogenicity assays while entomopathogenic Hypocreales were more common in the core but had little effect on millipede health. This study represents the first survey of fungal communities associated with any colobognath millipede, and these results offer a glimpse into the complexity of millipede fungal communities.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2018

Mesothelioma Interactome with 367 Novel Protein-Protein Interactions

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive cancer of the thorax with a median survival of one year. We constructed an MPM interactome with over 300 computationally predicted PPIs and over 1300 known PPIs of 62 literature-curated genes whose activity affects MPM. Known PPIs of the 62 MPM associated genes were derived from BioGRID and HPRD databases. Novel PPIs were predicted by applying the HiPPIP algorithm, which computes features of protein pairs such as cellular localization, molecular function, biological process membership, genomic location of the gene, gene expression in microarray experiments, protein domains and tissue membership, and classifies the pairwise features as interacting or non-interacting based on a random forest model. To our satisfaction, the interactome is significantly enriched with genes differentially expressed in MPM tumors compared with normal pleura, and with other thoracic tumors. The interactome is also significantly enriched with genes whose high expression has been correlated with unfavorable prognosis in lung cancer, and with genes differentially expressed on crocidolite exposure. 28 of the interactors of MPM proteins are targets of 147 FDA-approved drugs. By comparing differential expression profiles induced by drug to profiles induced by MPM, potentially repurposable drugs are identified from this drug list. Development of PPIs of disease-specific set of genes is a powerful approach with high translational impact - the interactome is a vehicle to piece together an integrated view on how genes associated with MPM through various high throughput studies are functionally linked, leading to clinically translatable results such as clinical trials with repurposed drugs. The PPIs are made available on a webserver, called Wiki-Pi MPM at http://severus.dbmi.pitt.edu/wiki-MPM with advanced search capabilities.\n\nOne Sentence SummaryMesothelioma Interactome with 367 novel protein-protein interactions may shed light on the mechanisms of cancer genesis and progression

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Discovery of psychoactive plant and mushroom alkaloids in ancient fungal cicada pathogens

Entomopathogenic fungi routinely kill their hosts before releasing infectious spores, but select species keep insects alive while sporulating, which enhances dispersal. Transcriptomics and metabolomics studies of entomopathogens with post-mortem dissemination from their parasitized hosts have unraveled infection processes and host responses, yet mechanisms underlying active spore transmission by Entomophthoralean fungi in living insects remain elusive. Here we report the discovery, through metabolomics, of the plant-associated amphetamine, cathinone, in four Massospora cicadina-infected periodical cicada populations, and the mushroom-associated tryptamine, psilocybin, in annual cicadas infected with Massospora platypediae or Massospora levispora, which appear to represent a single fungal species. The absence of some fungal enzymes necessary for cathinone and psilocybin biosynthesis along with the inability to detect intermediate metabolites or gene orthologs are consistent with possibly novel biosynthesis pathways in Massospora. The neurogenic activities of these compounds suggest the extended phenotype of Massospora that modifies cicada behavior to maximize dissemination is chemically-induced.

ecology↗